There are many factors governing what out-of-towners are willing to pay for rent, also, such as going salaries, the state of the economy in general, and demographics (large graduating classes cause rentals to go up).
As for the schools: The situation is that NYC (and Washington) has an elite worker class, served by minorities. Because NY is a magnet city, the influx of very qualified college grads is constant. Why should an employer (absent federal laws, of course) hire a poorly prepared high school grad when she can hire an Ivy Leaguer? Thus the kids have nowhere to go but service jobs, to make sure the elite have their packages delivered, their tables bused, etc. Having nowhere to go tends to stifle incentive to do well in school. Even graduates of the city colleges (open admission until recently, with remedial classes) are poorly prepared in comparison with someone from New Trier High School.
do you mean to tell me that you really believe the problem with the New York City schools is that there are no opportunities in New York?! Why then do you have all of those out of towners heading to New York City, for the view of Brooklyn?
Honestly, I've never heard a more ridiculous statement in my life.